Russ on Reading: Poetry Month: On Friday We Get Pizza

Russ on Reading: Poetry Month: On Friday We Get Pizza

Poetry Month: On Friday We Get Pizza

It was true 50 years ago; it is true today. Friday is pizza day n the school cafeteria. I clearly remember the anticipation I felt as a student (and as a teacher) on Fridays, because I knew there was pizza in the oven for lunch. With April being Poetry Month, here is a poem from my book There's a Giant in My Classroom (Infinity Press) inspired by a lifetime of eating in school cafeterias. This poem has always proved popular with upper elementary school kids.

On Friday We Get Pizza

It’s Monday in the lunchroom,

And we kids are getting nervous.

We’re wondering what inedible

The cafeteria will serve us.

But we’re ready for most anything:

Rabbit tacos, candied beets-a.

We can get through Monday,

‘Cause on Friday we get pizza.

It’s Tuesday and we’re hungry.

Hear the rumbling CONTINUE READING: Russ on Reading: Poetry Month: On Friday We Get Pizza

Trump and DeVos Target Dreamers by Denying Access to Coronavirus Relief Fund for College Students | janresseger

Trump and DeVos Target Dreamers by Denying Access to Coronavirus Relief Fund for College Students | janresseger

Trump and DeVos Target Dreamers by Denying Access to Coronavirus Relief Fund for College Students

When it passed the CARES Act to provide coronavirus relief, Congress included funds to be used by colleges and universities for emergency grants to help students whose lives were disrupted when the schools were shut down without warning. Although Congress provided considerable latitude by leaving it up to the schools to identify the students most in need, Betsy DeVos and the U.S. Department of Education have now set guidelines for the allocation of the funds. Dreamers cannot qualify.

The NY Times’ Erica Green explains: “The funding is part of $12.6 billion allocated directly to colleges and universities under Congress’s $2 trillion coronavirus stabilization law to help them recoup financial damages caused by the pandemic. Half of those funds are supposed to go directly to students affected by campus closures. In the coming weeks, schools are expected to award emergency relief grants to students to pay for expenses like food, housing, child care and technology. The stimulus law, called the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act, or CARES Act, directs the secretary to distribute the stimulus funding to colleges in the same manner the department distributes other financial aid. But it did not explicitly define which students are eligible. Undocumented students do not qualify for federal financial aid funds, but the emergency grants do not fall under that category.”

Despite that Congress left latitude for colleges and universities to award funds to the students their staffs deem most in need, on Tuesday, Betsy DeVos provided specific guidance about how colleges and universities can allocate the funds.  Green explains: “Education Secretary Betsy DeVos ordered higher education institutions to dole out more than $6 billion in emergency CONTINUE READING: Trump and DeVos Target Dreamers by Denying Access to Coronavirus Relief Fund for College Students | janresseger

Education Law Center: New York’s Pandemic Adjustment: Depriving Resources to Students Impacted by COVID-19 | National Education Policy Center

Education Law Center: New York’s Pandemic Adjustment: Depriving Resources to Students Impacted by COVID-19 | National Education Policy Center

Education Law Center: New York’s Pandemic Adjustment: Depriving Resources to Students Impacted by COVID-19

On March 27, Congress enacted the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, which includes $13.5 billion in emergency relief to support a rapid response by school districts to a crisis unprecedented in the history of American public education: states closing all public school buildings and transitioning students en masse from classroom instruction to learning at home through remote and digital means.¹

But the ink was hardly dry on the CARES Act when New York approved its Fiscal Year 2021 Budget with a COVID-19 “pandemic adjustment,” effectively wiping out the promise of additional federal resources for educating students remotely during school closure.

New York is the first state to enact a budget in the wake of the CARES Act. In this report, we show how the pandemic adjustment is actually a “pandemic cut” in New York State school aid, backfilled with the federal CARES Act emergency relief funds. Our analysis also shows that these cuts most impact students in New York City and other high poverty districts. We then explain how the pandemic adjustment replicates the strategy used by states to cut K-12 education funding during the 2008 Great Recession. In some states it took years to restore these cuts, and in others they had yet to be restored before the COVID-19 crisis.

CARES Act Emergency Relief Funds for K-12 Education

On March 18, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo issued an executive order closing all of the state’s CONTINUE READING: Education Law Center: New York’s Pandemic Adjustment: Depriving Resources to Students Impacted by COVID-19 | National Education Policy Center

CURMUDGUCATION: Internet Accessibility, Arne Duncan, and Dreaming Big

CURMUDGUCATION: Internet Accessibility, Arne Duncan, and Dreaming Big

Internet Accessibility, Arne Duncan, and Dreaming Big

Arne Duncan penned an op-ed in the Washington Post this week; the piece is notable because it is not baloney, but addresses one of the issues that the great pandemic pause has brought to the fore-- internet accessibility.

Duncan notes that currently if you don't have internet, you don't have school. And he notes that while internet providers stepped forward with heartwarming offers of free internet for poor families, that turned out to come with a little asterisk about debt and financial suitability. He doesn't it, but this is probably related to the fact that in many cases the "free" internet  was actually a sort of free introductory offer-- 60 or 90 days free if you've sign up for their internet service, and if you forget to cancel in time--voila, you're now a paying-full-price customer. In short, many ISPs have treated this issue like a marketing opportunity and not a chance for do-goodery. Duncan notes that some public pressure in some areas has helped fix this.

But that's only the tip of the internet iceberg. He talks about getting internet to all of Chicago, which is not a simple thing, but is probably easier than the kinds of problems we face in rural areas like mine, where some families will never have internet access of any sort-- wi-fi or phone-- until some major infrastructure is built.

Internet connectivity in my neck of the woods, and other necks like it, has always been wonky. My old high school's most effective barrier against student smartphone use is that signal reception in the school is terrible (the other side of that is that students are constantly looking to charge during the day because signal-seeking phones use up charges quickly). One of the elementary schools in my old district depends on a satellite dish for their internet connection. When my wife had a zoom staff CONTINUE READING: CURMUDGUCATION: Internet Accessibility, Arne Duncan, and Dreaming Big

SPECIAL CORONAVIRUS UPDATE Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... The latest news and resources in education since 2007

Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... | The latest news and resources in education since 2007

SPECIAL CORONAVIRUS UPDATE

Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... 

The latest news and resources in education since 2007

It’s The Thirtieth Anniversary Of The Hubble Telescope Launch – Here Are Teaching & Learning Resources

by Larry Ferlazzo / 1h

Andrew-Art / Pixabay The Hubble Telescope was launched thirty years ago today. You might be interested in The Best Sites To Learn About The Hubble Telescope . #Hubble30 For its 30th anniversary, Hubble presents a colorful scene nicknamed the "Cosmic Reef." These two nebulas, NGC 2014 in red & NGC 2020 in blue, are part of a vast star-forming region in a nearby galaxy & are illuminated by young, m

The Best Posts Predicting What Schools Will Look Like In The Fall

by Larry Ferlazzo / 1h

Clker-Free-Vector-Images / Pixabay What will school look like this fall? I’ve published two previous posts about it: Could These Be Visions Of What Our School Year Might Look Like In The Fall? Here’s What The Next Fall Could Look Like For Students & Teachers In California Today, NPR ran a long story about 9 Ways Schools Will Look Different When (And If) They Reopen. I’m sure there will be more! I

Help The Library Of Congress Test Its New Online Tool – “Citizen DJ”

by Larry Ferlazzo / 2h

The Library of Congress is creating a new tool called Citizen DJ that lets you use its curated audio sounds to create hip hop. They are not officially unveiling it until the summer, but are inviting people to test it out for the next few weeks . You can read more about it at The New York Times’ article, Library of Congress Unveils New Digital DJ Tool . I’m adding this post to The Best Online Site

YESTERDAY

Around The Web In ESL/EFL/ELL

by Larry Ferlazzo / 9h

BiljaST / Pixabay Six years ago I began this regular feature where I share a few posts and resources from around the Web related to ESL/EFL or to language in general that have caught my attention. You might also be interested in THE BEST RESOURCES, ARTICLES & BLOG POSTS FOR TEACHERS OF ELLS IN 2019 – PART ONE and THE BEST RESOURCES, ARTICLES & BLOG POSTS FOR TEACHERS OF ELLS IN 2019 – PART TWO. A

“Supporting African American Students During the School Closure Crisis”

by Larry Ferlazzo / 9h

Supporting African American Students During the School Closure Crisis is the headline of my latest Education Week Teacher column. Two educators describe how schools can directly respond to the needs of African American students during the COVID-10 crisis, including by regularly contacting their homes and developing a student-centered curriculum. One of those teachers is Antoine Germany, the chair

“Spanish-Language Visualization: ‘7 Tips for Parents Supporting Remote Learning'”

by Larry Ferlazzo / 12h

Spanish-Language Visualization: ‘7 Tips for Parents Supporting Remote Learning’ is the headline of my latest Education Week Teacher column. As regular readers know, three educators have worked to create several English- and Spanish-language visualizations and infographics of the key points I’ve made in various videos. Thanks to Wendi Pillars, Xatli Stox, and Lindsay Kuhl for their amazing work, w

I’m Using This New NPR Video In Class Today: “Six Tips For Safe Grocery Shopping During A Pandemic”

by Larry Ferlazzo / 1d

mohamed_hassan / Pixabay I’m going to use this new NPR movie in my ELL Newcomers class. Actually, I’ll be turning the sound off and stopping at the illustrations and sentencing sharing each of the six tips and then have students play a Quizizz game I’ll make about the advice:

APR 22

Cinco de Mayo Is Coming Up – Here Are Teaching & Learning Resources

by Larry Ferlazzo / 1d

alaingutz / Pixabay Cinco de Mayo, May 5th, commemorates the defeat of the French by the Mexican Army in 1862. It’s a holiday in some parts of Mexico, and is celebrated by Mexican immigrants and Mexican-Americans in the United States. You might be interested in The Best Sites For Teaching & Learning About Cinco de Mayo .

“Six Ways to Teach Poetry”

by Larry Ferlazzo / 1d

Six Ways to Teach Poetry is the headline of my latest Education Week Teacher column. Five teachers share strategies for teaching poetry, including by using a “Poem of the Week” to promote social justice and by using photos to prompt student engagement. Here are some excerpts:

Looking For “Silver Linings” In The Coronavirus Crisis Is A Gross Example Of Privilege

by Larry Ferlazzo / 1d

It isn’t the first time I’ve seen some ed tech proponents talk this way over the past month, but Coronavirus Opens Door To Rethinking Education is just gross. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: It would be difficult to find someone is more a “glass full” kind of person, but there is no “silver lining” to a pandemic, tens of thousands of deaths, society-wide disruption, and chaos for our s

“Video: ‘Tips for Remote Teaching With ELL Students'”

by Larry Ferlazzo / 1d

OpenClipart-Vectors / Pixabay I’ve been doing some videos for Ed Week. The first one was on “ 7 Tips for Remote Teaching. ” Next, came “ 7 Tips for Parents Supporting Remote Learning .” And, now, today, comes one providing “Tips for Remote Teaching with ELL Students,” co-scripted by Katie Hull (apologies for it being a bit “glitchy,” particularly at the beginning):

DeVos Proves Again That “The Cruelty Is The Point” – DACA Recipients Barred From Aid

by Larry Ferlazzo / 1d

The Cruelty Is the Point is the headline of an important article Adam Sewer wrote for The Atlantic eighteen months ago as he discussed Trump Administration policies. Education Secretary DeVos demonstrated another example of this today. Read about it in The New York Times article, DeVos Excludes ‘Dreamers’ From Coronavirus College Relief .

This Week’s Resources To Support Teachers Coping With School Closures

by Larry Ferlazzo / 2d

Wokandapix / Pixabay I have a number of regular weekly features (see HERE IS A LIST (WITH LINKS) OF ALL MY REGULAR WEEKLY FEATURES ). It’s time for a new addition to that list, and this post introduces a weekly compilation of new and good resources to support those of us deali

Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... | The latest news and resources in education since 2007